2005 Fed 100: M to P

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Tonya J. Manning
Chief Information Security Officer
Labor Department

Numbers are not always the best indicators of success, but sometimes, they speak volumes.

Tonya Manning was the catalyst for the successful incorporation of critical security measures into the Labor Department's information systems. As chief information security officer, she pushed Labor's major systems and applications through the certification and accreditation processes.

The numbers say it all. As a result of her efforts, 97 percent of the department's 85 systems made the grade.

Patrick Pizzella, Labor's chief information officer, said Manning's "focus on improving and advancing [Labor's information technology] security very much corresponds to the overall emphasis by the [Bush] administration and Congress on the security issue." Manning's work, he said, sent a positive message to the department's employees.

J. Patrick McConnel, who goes by Pat, has implemented cost-saving procurement measures while serving as acquisition life cycle program manager for the Internal Revenue Service. Other agencies are looking at those measures as a model.

McConnel led efforts at the IRS to create customer acquisition councils that bring people together to discuss their use of commodity items and identify areas for cost savings. For example, agency officials have reduced the number of contracts for copy machines from 270 to three, simplifying procurement and saving an estimated $1.7 million annually.

"He's very business-minded," said Mary Jo LaBriola, director of technical contract management at the IRS. "He looks at where we can save money  whether that's in process, whether it's in negotiating contracts."

Capt. Sheila McCoy
Director, Information Assurance Team
Navy

David Wennergren, the Navy's chief information officer, chose Capt. Sheila McCoy to lead a servicewide effort to develop a comprehensive information assurance policy that would fortify the Navy's security well into the future.

But she didn't stop there. McCoy played a key role in implementing the Defense Department's Common Access Card and emerged as an articulate champion for information assurance in the DOD community, becoming a popular speaker at industry conferences. (See "McCoy: Champion of information assurance")

As program leader for the Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative, J. Patrick McCreary led the creation of the Global Justice Extensible Markup Language Data Model, a linchpin for information sharing in the criminal justice community.

The model has been adopted by more than 200 state and local governments, the Homeland Security Department and the intelligence community. McCreary also organized an industry working group of more than 150 companies that support the criminal justice community.

"He never allowed bureaucracy to interfere with his progress and his imagination," said Domingo Herraiz, director of the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Assistance.

Patricia McGinnis
President and Chief Executive Officer
Council for Excellence in Government

Sometimes, people need information but don't know they need it, or they don't know how to get it. Patricia McGinnis has positioned the Council for Excellence in Government to fill that gap.

Last year, McGinnis and her organization were instrumental in offering the Homeland Security Department a much-needed citizen-centric view of homeland security based on a series of town hall meetings.

McGinnis has also worked with federal
officials to discuss some of their management challenges.

"I think she's using the council to help shape the dialogue about what the issues are, to focus on the performance and the results of government, and to push players to take action steps to get there," said David McClure, a former colleague of McGinnis who now works at Gartner.

John McManus worked with employees at NASA's field centers to create an enterprise architecture for the agency.

His plan includes evolutionary and revolutionary changes to NASA's technology infrastructure and technology service-delivery model. It fulfills the requirements of the federal enterprise architecture while also supporting President Bush's vision for space exploration.

"Not only the technical excellence but also the leadership skills make him a special person," said Patricia Dunnington, NASA's chief information officer.

Edward Meagher has won admiration throughout the federal information technology community for his efforts to help soldiers wounded in the Middle East.

Recognizing that injured soldiers would need retraining, he created Vet IT, a program that enables soldiers to volunteer at the Department of Veterans Affairs and gain work experience while they continue their rehabilitation.

He also helped arrange weekly dinners at a downtown restaurant for soldiers being treated at Walter Reed Hospital so they wouldn't feel isolated, as many veterans did when they returned from Vietnam.

"The Vet IT intern program is one of the most creative, effective, thinking-outside-the-box programs I've run across," said Jim Mayer, outreach coordinator for the VA's seamless transition office at Walter Reed.

Larry C. Mercier
Director of GoLearn
Office of Personnel Management

Larry Mercier's work on the Office of Personnel Management's GoLearn program has been a boon for many federal agencies. In development for four years, the program is now beginning to reach its potential by providing online education for employees at 12 of the 15 Cabinet-level agencies.

Mercier is credited with creating a business model that saves $7 for every dollar invested in the program. He has also helped improve the quality and availability of the service.

"Larry is a great person to work with," said Beverly Josiah, a senior business analyst at Catapult Technology, an e-learning vendor. "He's really good with what he does. He helps agencies meet their strategic objective and helps them get to green" on several categories of the President's Management Agenda score card.

Until recently, military officials didn't know who to talk to at the federal, state and local levels when they needed to share vital homeland security intelligence. Now, they can reach the right people faster than ever before.

Maj. Gen. Dale Meyerrose identified the major players at each level of government and integrated communications between the military's networks and other government networks. Northern Command officials exchange voice, video and data communications with officials in the federal, state and local governments  often in real time.

"Gen. Meyerrose has a remarkable ability to understand and communicate the essence of any complex issue," said Herb Browne, a retired Navy vice admiral who is now president and chief executive officer of AFCEA International.

Harris Miller spent much of 2004 trying to convince foreign officials that they should be as concerned about protecting critical infrastructures as he is.

The effort culminated in a meeting last October with the National Association of Software and Service Companies  India's counterpart to the Information Technology Association of America  and the creation of a seven-point action plan that officials are implementing.

"He has not only provided leadership to the IT industry but has recognized that this is a strategic issue that cuts across industries," said Bob Cohen, an ITAA senior vice president. "He's reached out to world leaders, and he's reached out to leaders in the U.S. government."

Donna Morea
President
CGI-AMS

As co-chairwoman of the Industry Advisory Council's 2004 Executive Leadership Conference,
Donna Morea created a new venue in which senior leaders in government and industry could share ideas and concerns.

Morea wanted leaders to use the Future Forum to discuss ways in which different factors could  and should  affect how government officials manage technology. Among the variables were the evolving field of information technology vendors, homeland security concerns and the 2004 elections.

"Donna is an incredible visionary, always thinking outside the box," said Robert Suda, assistant commissioner for IT solutions at the General Services Administration's Federal Technology Service.

J. Eun Moredock, the Western Area Power Administration's point person for information technology security, coordinated the adoption of standards, architecture and other security requirements at all WAPA facilities.

Moredock met her goal, bringing 100 percent of WAPA facilities into compliance with federal security standards, said John Long, president and chief executive officer of JAVIS Automation and Engineering.

"She was able to facilitate and create a collaborative relationship with everyone working together as one unit and one team to accomplish a common mission and that was to ensure the agencies were complying," Long said.

Robert Myhill
Professional Staff Member
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
House of Representatives

Few information technology issues have generated as much interest on Capitol Hill  or as many divergent views  as the sharing of intelligence information.

Robert Myhill was the skilled negotiator behind the crafting of Section 1016 of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004. Perhaps not everyone was fully satisfied with the provision, but many were impressed with Myhill's work in bringing it to fruition.

"Robert was a driving force behind perfecting the information-sharing portions of the intelligence bill by expertly crafting a compromise that strengthens the government's ability to share terrorism information and protect the nation," said Karen Evans, the Office of Management and Budget's administrator for e-government and IT.

Long V. Nguyen
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Pragmatics

Long Nguyen appreciates the value of processes when it comes to software.

In 2004, Pragmatics received the ISO 9001:2000 stamp of approval for having a quality management system in place as part of its software development processes. The company also earned Capability Maturity Model Integration
Level 3 certification, for having processes that were both well-documented and repeatable.

Those are big ambitions for a small business, but Nguyen knows a focus on processes pays off. Pragmatics was awarded new contracts by five separate government agencies last year.

"Pushing the state of the art is at the core
of his whole philosophy of life," said Thomas Thoma, president and chief executive of
T-Squared Enterprises.

Chris Neidermayer put e-government on the map at the Agriculture Department by effectively communicating its importance and successfully promoting e-government projects within the department.

He also helped spearhead the Industry Advisory Council's Information Technology Partners Program, an executive development program for rising stars in government and industry who show a high potential for advancement.

Neidermayer "made sure people got value from the program," said Ira Hobbs, chief information officer at the Treasury Department, adding that he "continues to demonstrate an above-average approach as an executive to
working with and encouraging people in the government."

Meg Offit Gold
Senior Program Analyst
Treasury Department

Many people may be unaware of the work she has done for the CIO Council, but everybody benefits. She has worked with the Workforce and Human Capital Committee to expand the existing data on the government's IT workforce and devise training paths for workers. She has also developed policies for project management training.

"Meg's dedicated work on the CIO Council's workforce and human capital initiatives was instrumental in detailing the issues associated with the aging IT workforce and the assessment of IT skills across the federal government," said Dan Matthews, chief information officer at the Transportation Department and vice chairman of the CIO Council.

John L. Okay
Partner
Topside Consulting Group

John Okay knows how to achieve detente. He was an important figure in bringing industry leaders into the planning process for the Networx telecommunications procurement, which General Services Administration officials worked on last year.

"John was kind of like the steering jets on the rocket," said Rick Slifer, a vice president at Broadwing Communications. "Industry was
anxious to do a lot of things  government was too  and John helped set the agenda and set up the playing field."

Cmdr. Randy Onders helped navigate the Navy's enterprise resource planning system and Naval Tactical Command Support System through a challenging budget process and aligned them with the Navy's strategic vision.

Because of Onders' leadership, the enterprise program is three years ahead of schedule. Service officials expect it to save $2 billion through 2011. With 80,000 seats, it will be the largest enterprise resource planning program in government or industry.

"A business re-engineering process that spans the entire naval enterprise is not a simple task," said Capt. Michael Fabish, head of the Navy's spares programs and policy branch. Fabish said that because Onders has a near magical ability to foster amazing levels of cooperation and commitment, the Navy is making rapid progress.

Robert L. Otto
Vice President of Information Technology and Chief Technology Officer
U.S. Postal Service

Robert Otto's efforts to keep the U.S. Postal Service afloat have relied in part on old-fashioned business sense and in part on an entrepreneurial spirit.

Otto is credited with saving a half-billion dollars by standardizing, centralizing and simplifying the Postal Service's information technology infrastructure at a crucial time for the self-financed agency, which must lower its operating costs to survive.

"His use of technology to solve problems, build and maintain infrastructure, and perfect operations dwarfs other agency efforts," said Deborah Judy, manager of IT value at USPS.

The Pentagon's business systems modernization program is a mess. But the Defense Logistics Agency's version is tidy.

Under the steady guidance of Paul Peters, DLA's Version 2 of the modernization program launched without a hitch last July. Agency logisticians order, track and deliver warfighting materiel more quickly to troops in combat with the precision that Wal-Mart managers use to follow products from suppliers' factories to store shelves.

"By skillfully knitting together the efforts of his development team with the necessary DLA executive support, both at headquarters and at the Defense Supply Centers, he has ensured that the program is fully meeting the agency's goals for transformation," said David Falvey, program executive officer in DLA's Program Executive Office for Information Operations.

Not many agency officials have bragging rights when it comes to financial management systems. NASA officials, though, are feeling proud, and a lot of the credit goes to Jonathan Pettus.

Pettus oversees the organization that pulled together the applications that feed into the financial system. He also manages a support team that was crucial to the system's successful deployment.

"By providing a centralized customer-support organization, Jonathan has transformed NASA's support for agencywide business applications and related functional and technical support," said Stephen Sieke, a partner at IBM Business Consulting Services.

Harry Piccariello
Business Development Director
Informatica

While government and industry officials talk about collaboration and partnership, Harry Piccariello took steps to make them happen. Piccariello played a significant role in the federal information technology community through volunteer efforts to raise money for IT scholarships and other charitable causes. He devoted many evenings and weekends to those activities in 2004. He has also been instrumental in improving collaboration and partnerships between industry and government.

"Harry is one of those touch points in the IT world who adds value by promoting understanding between private- and public-sector worlds," said Scott Hastings, chief information officer for the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology program.

Performance-based contracting should theoretically be a boon for federal programs. But agency officials' unfamiliarity with this approach also can set officials and contractors on edge.

Curtis Porter manages a $3.5 billion performance-based contract for telecommunications infrastructure services for the Federal Aviation Administration. His positive and open management style has contributed to the success of performance-based contracting at the FAA at a time when many procurement experts are seeking validation that such contracts can indeed save money and provide superior results.

"I'm a contractor and he's a government guy, and I feel I trust him," said Robert Coulson, senior business development manager for Harris. "He's breaking new ground as far as performance-based contracting for new services."

Rep. Adam Putnam
House of Representatives

As chairman of a House Government Reform Committee subcommittee, Putnam held 39 oversight hearings last year, a majority centering on e-government and information security.

Bob Dix, a former subcommittee staffer, said Putnam took time to learn about all aspects of information security, including the magnitude of vulnerabilities and the interdependencies of the public and private sectors.

Putnam's message is, "We don't want to wait for some kind of a cyberevent before people begin to take notice and take steps to protect their networks and their desktops and to secure the information and data that is so important in the government side to accomplishing mission-
critical activities," Dix said.

Venkatapathi Puvvada, known as PV, made his mark in 2004 as leader of the Industry Advisory Council's Enterprise Architecture Shared Interest Group. In that role, he defined and helped others understand the concept of enterprise architecture, which Office of Management and Budget officials have identified with good IT management.

During a wholesale reorganization of the IAC groups, PV's group was identified as a model worth following.

"PV was central to both the ability of everybody to get along and herding the kittens in a way that made their efforts useful," said Dan Twomey, Altarum director of marketing and PV's successor in the enterprise architecture group. "They're big shoes to fill."